WASHINGTON — Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, was declared the victor over incumbent U.S. Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco in a very close race for the 23rd District seat Tuesday night. But hours after the polls closed, Canseco, R-San Antonio, had not conceded defeat.

Canseco spokesman Scott Yeldell said, “We are going to wait until the voters are counted properly and legally.”

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Gallego said. “It’s very surreal.”

“It’s been a long and hard road,” Gallego said, alluding to his background and upbringing in a town of 6,000.

“It has re-energized my desire to make sure the American dream is available to all,” he said. Gallego said that while Canseco had not yet conceded, he thought that the margin was only going to grow.

Nearly $8 million in outside cash poured into the race for the sprawling West Texas district, which elected Canseco in 2010. No contest in Texas came close to this one in money spent per person over the age of 18, with almost $13 spent per potential voter.

Some of the groups spending big cash in the race were the National Rifle Association, the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the House Majority PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund and both parties’ campaign committees.

The biggest single buy in favor of one candidate came at the end of September, when the pro-Gallego League of Conservation Voters spent nearly $600,000 on a TV ad campaign.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which supported Canseco, made an ad buy of more than $450,000 late last month.

The district encompasses the area south and southwest of the Houston area.

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, left the seat open after his decision to run for president. Weber, who serves as a state representative, bested Felicia Harris in the July runoff election.

“Tonight, the voters said they wanted to go in a direction that will put our country on the right track and restore conservative principles to Washington,” said Weber in a prepared statement. “That is what I will do, we will do it together.”

In his concession speech, Lampson acknowledged supporters and telling them they waged a tough campaign.

“I have dedicated my life to public service, and I have always tried to be there for the people and communities that I represent,” Lampson said. “And while this may not be the end of the story, it is the end of a chapter.”

The results were slow in coming.

A judge ordered Galveston County polls to remain open 1 hour and 54 minutes after the original closing time due to computer problems that delayed voting earlier in the day.

Lampson, a former Democratic representative from Beaumont, previously served in Congress from 1997 to 2005 in the 22nd District and again from 2007 to 2009 in the 9th District.

In other races across Texas, the status quo was maintained, with zero seats changing hands.

Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, who is also the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, introduced House Speaker John Boehner at the Republicans’ party at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.